There’s been a new development in the lawsuit by Disney against Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and members of the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District Board.

©Governor Ron DeSantis Website

Back in April, Disney announced their lawsuit against the governor and board members, stating that “a targeted campaign of government retaliation—orchestrated at every step by Governor DeSantis as punishment for Disney’s protected speech—now threatens Disney’s business operations, jeopardizes its economic future in the region, and violates its constitutional rights.” Lawyers for Gov. DeSantis have been working to disqualify the judge presiding over the case, and that judge has now stepped down, but he did so for reasons other than the ones put forward by the lawyers.

Mark E. Walker is the chief judge for the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida. He was originally going to preside over Disney’s lawsuit against DeSantis, but according to The New York Times, the federal judge in Florida has disqualified himself from the case because one of his relatives owns Disney stock.

Late Thursday, June 1st, Walker (who was appointed by President Barack Obama) announced that he would not preside over the case. The case has now been reassigned to Judge Allen C. Winsor, “who was appointed to the court in 2019 by President Donald J. Trump,” according to the Times.

Reedy Creek

Gov. DeSantis’s lawyers wanted the judge removed from the case “because of remarks the judge had made in unrelated cases.” Apparently, the judge mentioned the DeSantis-Disney conflict in two unrelated court cases last year, which DeSantis’s lawyers claim “could reasonably be understood to reflect that the court has prejudged Disney’s retaliation theory here, and therefore create significant doubts about the court’s impartiality.” The judge accused those lawyers of “rank judge shopping” and stated that the remarks mentioned “cannot raise a substantial doubt about my impartiality in the mind of a fully informed, disinterested lay person.”

Disney officially sued Florida Governor Ron DeSantis (as well as members of the District’s new board) in late April of this year, alleging that the Governor has waged a “relentless campaign to weaponize government power” against Disney. The lawsuit has been filed in federal court and argues that DeSantis has orchestrated a campaign to punish Disney for its political views and that this all now threatens Disney’s business.

Cinderella Castle

Though Disney’s prior responses to the battle have typically been more quiet or subtle, this significantly escalates the feud.

Within the complaint, Disney has alleged:

• For more than half a century, Disney has made an immeasurable impact on Florida and its economy, establishing Central Florida as a top global tourist destination
• Disney is one of Central Florida’s largest taxpayers
• Disney is also one of the largest employers in the State
• But, “A targeted campaign of government retaliation—orchestrated at every step by Governor DeSantis as punishment for Disney’s protected speech—now threatens Disney’s business operations, jeopardizes its economic future in the region, and violates its constitutional rights.”

Disney argues that DeSantis “paid no mind to the governing structure that facilitated Reedy Creek’s successful development until one year ago, when the Governor decided to target Disney.” DeSantis’s actions against Disney came after the company made statements against the Florida Parental Rights in Education law, commonly called the “Don’t Say Gay” law by critics. In Disney’s view, “There is no room for disagreement about what happened here: Disney expressed its opinion on state legislation and was then punished by the State for doing so.”

©Governor Ron DeSantis Website

Disney stated, “This is as clear a case of retaliation as this Court is ever likely to see.”

According to Disney, the “latest strike” in DeSantis’ campaign has been the action taken by the board of supervisors of the District on April 26th, 2023 which invalidated some of Disney’s “publically noticed and duly agreed development contracts” that it had signed with the previous board.

Disney warns that the Governor and the board he has appointed will not stop. Disney alleges that DeSantis has threatened to “to look at things like taxes on the hotels,” “tolls on the roads,” “developing some of the property that the district owns” with “more amusement parks,” and even putting a “state prison” next to Walt Disney World. 

Reedy Creek Improvement District

Disney’s ultimate view seems to be summed up in one sentence “In America, the government cannot punish you for speaking your mind.”

Disney is asking that the court to do the following:

• declare the legislative declaration just approved by the new Reedy Creek board as unlawful
• declare that the contracts Disney signed with the old board are still in effect, and
• declare that the laws impacting Reedy Creek (specifically, the first one that would have dissolved the district, and the second one that made substantial changes to the District) be declared unlawful.

Recently, changes were made to the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District Board when one member stepped down and Gov. DeSantis appointed another to take their place.

We’ll continue to watch for updates on this situation, so stay tuned to DFB.